Rest well, classical music fans. You will need your strength to get through this eclectic season provided by Kansas City’s cultural organizations. Fortunately, there is plenty of stimulation in the community’s vibrant offerings. First off, we noticed an uptick in representation of women throughout the year. Concerts devoted to the works of women pepper the season, but more importantly, works by women are integrated in the programming, accounting for fewer token, and more sustainable, appearances.

The Kansas City Contemporary Music Festival, now in its second year, brings together some of the region’s premier new music practitioners for a post-genre celebration during May’s First Fridays. The festival runs from 5 to 9 p.m. in the third-floor event space of the Bauer, the rehabbed warehouse warrened with artists’ studios and gallery spaces, a central hub for an evening of gallery stalking and art gazing.

Kansas Citians have a decades-long love affair with tango. The sultry strains and propulsive rhythms — pulled from the clubs of Buenos Aires into the concert halls by world-famous bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla — have long entranced Midwestern audiences, and they’ll have a chance to experience that thrall again when Bach Aria Soloists presents their ever popular “Night of Tango.”